It’s a hybrid cloud/multi-cloud world!
While most media companies are exploring the cloud in some way — some jumping in with both feet while others take a more conservative approach — the reality for the foreseeable future is we are living in a hybrid cloud, multi-cloud world where both cloud storage and on-prem storage will remain in play. Some companies are looking to on-prem object storage as a way to take advantage of the benefits that cloud technology provides while keeping costs more predictable and leaving their assets under their complete control.
Certainly, the cloud has many benefits — including scalability, elasticity and pay-as-you-go pricing, along with access to a suite of new services for media processing, AI, collaboration and more — but it also presents challenges. Egress fees remain at the top of the list of concerns as many early adopters have seen surprise bills. And then there are security implications combined with a desire to leverage investments in on-prem equipment that have already been made.
As we discuss in our guide to hybrid cloud strategy, the hybrid approach offers a lot of value but with it some new challenges. By utilizing a combination of cloud and on-premises storage, media enterprises have more control and can also respond quickly to market dynamics but it does mean there is more to manage and, thus, more complex technical environments. Signiant customers such as VFX Legion have found remarkable success with this strategy, and — having observed the benefits hybrid cloud storage has provided for the M&E industry — we’ve worked to facilitate its usage in all of our accelerated file transfer solutions.
Signiant helps M&E organizations thrive in hybrid cloud storage
A fundamental principle of Signiant’s SaaS offerings is what we like to refer to as storage independence. This means that you consistently have total control over where your content is stored while you’re using our software. Our products work with your choice of on-premises storage from any provider along with cloud storage from Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services. As such, it’s easy for media companies to navigate their hybrid storage approach, and swiftly move content to where it needs to live. In that way, Signiant becomes an important abstraction layer across both storage type and geographic location.
